Family
by StartUp Fiction
Summary: Harry meets a rather obnoxious boy while on vacation before his fourth year. This meeting causes a world of change. This is an idea I had and wanted to write down, idea and story are up for grabs. Sporadic updates.


Family

AN: Edited 11 November 2015

Harry sighed as he walked through Sicily, both blessing and cursing his genetics as he walked through the town. If one more person tried to hit on him or ask him where he was staying, he was not going to be responsible for his actions. Harry felt his eye twitch as he heard another catcall, the temporary aging potion had sounded like a good idea earlier, but he wouldn't have taken it if he'd known how much attention he was going to get. It was great to travel around the city on his own, it was not so great to learn that his feminine face would stay that way when he was twenty-four, ten years from now. It didn't help that the Dursley's had ruined his height and build with their treatment when he was younger, making him much shorter and slimmer than he was meant to be, and no amount of potions and spells could reverse that sort of damage over such an extended period of time. The only thing Harry could thank the Durley's for was bringing him on this trip, regardless of the fact that he had to pay for his own ticket and hotel, or he wouldn't have gotten through customs. The aging potion certainly helped, because the Dursley's were too paranoid to leave him alone in the house for two weeks and couldn't get anyone to take him, and were far too cheap to waste money on his room.

Thinking back on his relatives paranoia and the cause of it made him grin, having a "murderer" threaten you would certainly make any sane person paranoid, regardless of the fact that Sirius was innocent. Harry's newfound godfather always brought a smile to his face, despite his status as a criminal, and he wished he could speak to the man in more than just letters. He lost his smile when another man decided to hit on him, the look on his face anything but good. Harry didn't give the man a chance to flirt, just walking straight past him with a dangerous look on his face. The man wisely backed off, and Harry decided it was past time he returned to his hotel, having had enough of Sicily for the moment.

The sun was low as Harry made his way back to his hotel, a nice place on the outskirts of the tourist section and far away from his relatives. He enjoyed the scenery as he walked, Italy was a beautiful country, and he barely managed to keep himself upright when a small form barreled into his legs. Harry looked down to see a boy, clutching onto his legs with a surprisingly strong grip, and crying as quietly as he could. Harry wasted no time reaching down and kneeling as carefully as he could, trying to comfort the child. Harry was suddenly very glad he had dealt with so many first years, especially Collin, and had been studying languages alongside a translation potion he'd taken during his stay in Diagon Alley last summer. "What's wrong, little one?"

Harry's question was met with a sniffle, a pair of big green eyes meeting his own, and Harry put a hand on the boy's literal afro of black hair. Harry kept a gentle smile on his face, waiting for the boy to calm down, and discreetly conjuring a tissue. Harry gave the boy the tissue, widening his smile at the horrendous way the boy blew his nose, and banished it easily afterwards. "T-Thank you, Sorrela."

Harry mentally translated the word, giving a little laugh and a mental sigh, and shaking his head. "You're welcome, little one. Will you tell me what's wrong?"

The boy sniffled again, opening his mouth to speak when the sound of footsteps reached them and Harry looked past the child. The boy heard them too and he tensed, his small form shaking slightly, and Harry lifted him easily as he got up. Standing in front of the duo were several men in suits, dangerous looks on their faces, and Harry tightened his grip on the boy when he heard more footsteps around them. "Can I help you gentlemen?"

Harry made sure to keep his expression pleasant, body language not showing the tenseness in his body, and shifted the boy so he was shielded half by Harry's body. Harry didn't know why so many people would be after a child, especially not looking like the stereotypical mafia Harry had been warned about, but he certainly wasn't going to give the boy to them. "You can give us the boy, foreigner."

Harry frowned, the insult not even affecting him, and making a point to curl himself tightly around the boy. "It doesn't look like he wants to go with you, so would you mind letting me pass? I don't have time to deal with your rudeness."

There was a second of silence before Harry dropped to the ground, arms wrapped tightly around the boy, when he saw the glint of metal out of the corner of his eyes. He mentally thanked Wood and his Quidditch training as the bullet passed harmlessly over his head. Harry surged forward before bed even finished dropping, catching the men in front of him by surprise, and lashing out.

Harry held nothing back, steamrolling through the men with a flurry of kicks reinforced by his magic, and took off down the road. Harry nearly blurred as he ran, giving the men no chance to catch or follow them. Another thing the Dursleys were good for, his ability to get out of sticky situations, though Hogwarts had played a role in that too. Harry ran until he was just around the corner from his hotel, taking a brief moment to pull out his wand and cast a few disillusionment charms on himself before going inside and heading for his room.

The boy was quiet as they went through the hotel, staying that way until they were safely inside Harry's room with all manner of privacy and protective wards set. Harry smiled down at his new charge when he heard a sniffle, heading for the small couch in his room, and thanked his urge to get a suite when he checked in. Harry felt a twitch behind him and sighed, sitting down gingerly, and carefully untangled the boy to set him on his lap. Harry could tell the second the boy noticed Harry's now changed features, already bracing himself for any tugging, and mentally cursed his Gryffindor stupidity for his current predicament.

In a brilliant show of idiocy at the end of the school year, he had decided to charge Professor Lupin as a distraction. It was only thanks to Hermione's quick thinking and the cocktail of Basilisk blood and venom and Pheonix tears coursing through him that prevented him from turning into a werewolf. Instead of the nearly mindless beast Remus was forced to become once a month, Harry was a fox animagus prone to partial transformations in dangerous situations. His fox form, which he knew to be a swift fox with darker than normal coloring thanks to Hermione, was something he could transform into and out of seamlessly. Unfortunately, he would never fully control his partial transformations, leading to an embarrassingly large number of situations where a large fox tail would pop out with a matching pair of ears resting atop his head. The fixed eyesight that was a permanent side effect was something Harry considered outweighed the side effects, most of the time.

For the next few hours, Harry spent the time entertaining the boy with his fox features and form, learning his name was Lambo and he came from the Bovino Famiglia. Harry now knew why those men had been after him, a rival mafia family that had been planning to kidnap him for a ransom, and Lambo had managed to get away and run. Lambo also had a surprisingly insecure personality, covered up by his loud and obnoxious behavior, that reminded Harry very much of Draco Malfoy. He learned that Lambo was four years old and surrounded by adults that sounded quite a bit like mad scientists at times, but the boy was happy and that was what mattered to Harry.

When Lambo was finally all tired out and sleeping peacefully, Harry went around the suite setting up every ward Hermione had ever showed him. Anyone trying to get inside without permission would get a rather nasty shock and give Harry more than enough time to get Lambo out if necessary. Of course, Harry would probably get a nasty shock of his own if too many of the wards went off at the same time, but he could leave Lambo in the room while he took care of some things.

First things first, he would have to find out where the Bovino were located, and Harry doubted a simple 'Point Me' would be enough. He'd also have to take another trip into the Sicilian magical district, he needed more aging potion and he'd have to get Lambo some new clothes, his current ones were ripped and stained thanks to his escape and run through the city. Harry could get the clothes charmed with some of the more subtle protections, just in case. He needed to see Hedwig tonight too, she would be back with any letters his friends had sent him. Clever bird had followed him and had been keeping any other birds for him out of the city, keeping his letters safe, and Harry made sure to visit her everyday. Maybe he'd make a detour before taking Lambo home, the snowy owl had a soft spot for children and Lambo had probably never seen a bird like her before.

With one last mental sweep of his wards and a look in the mirror to make sure he was completely human, Harry left the hotel room. Making sure he stayed fully human was becoming increasingly difficult, he felt restricted if he didn't change every so often. Being away from his relatives helped, there would be a lot of screaming if his uncle ever found out, but he'd still been unable to change while he stayed with them. Playing with Lambo had helped tremendously, so had running from those men, but he would need a solution soon. The goblins could probably help, but that would have to wait until he got back to England, so he'd just have to bear it for a little longer.

Harry had made it to the hotel lobby during his musings, a minor disillusionment charm in place as he left. There wasn't a lot of daylight left, and Harry wanted to get everything done before the sun went down and the more unsavory residents came out. With that thought in mind, Harry ducked into an alley and cast a stronger disillusionment charm before he sped away, unknowing of how drastically the future had just changed.


End file.
